Clouds of the Sea
by Keeblo
Summary: Of course this had to happen. The universe couldn't stop giving him shit for all of two seconds before dumping something else on him. That's probably why he's sitting on the couch right now, fingers stroking through Minnie's fur as his parents explain that they're transferring him to a school. Blind!Eridan fic. Erikar as the main pairing with a little snippet of erisol.


**Clouds of the Sea**

**Summary: **Of course this had to happen. The universe couldn't stop giving him shit for all of two seconds before dumping something else on him. That's probably why he's sitting on the couch right now, fingers stroking through Minnie's fur as his parents explain that they're transferring him to a school.

**Warnings: **As of right now 10/7/13 the only warnings will be bullying, possible self harm (eh maybe), bullying, and a large amount of assholes. oh and possible death of an OC.

**Pairings: **Erikar, brief Erisol, Possible Arasol, Maybe flashbacks of Solfef, MAYBE even Arafef if i feel like it. An yeah.

**Authors Note: **Okay I know it's been forever since I've wrote anything and I swear I'll be writing again once marching band is over (shit yeah goshen's doing great!) but for now this is what I can work on and yup. So basically everything is on hiatus at the moment until November (that's when bands over, specifically the 3rd is state) and Note On The Back Of A Coffee Cup will probably be re-written. And I might start some teen wolf sterek shit yeayuh. so for now, enjoy this. If you like it do all of that awesome stuff that makes me continue and want to continue writing:3 ~Keeblo. **Note: **Someone reviewed and told me that using an elbow is how you lead a blind person so I went and changed a few parts, but only slightly so no need to worry too much.

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Of course this had to happen. The universe couldn't stop giving him shit for all of two seconds before dumping something else on him. That's probably why he's sitting on the couch right now, fingers stroking through Minnie's fur as his parents explain that they're transferring him to a school.

"Eridan you need to realize that it's just not possible to keep you cooped up forever right? You need to get out there, man up, meet people." His dad's voice is gruff and by the sounds of it he's not too hyped about this either.

"What we're saying Eridan, dear, is that someday we won't be here to protect you and it'll be so much worse if you never get out there...so, we're going to have you start school at a regular school this year." Minnie whines at him, sensing his irritation. Of course if he could he would protest, but his lips stay shut tightly in a line as he scratches behind Minnie's ears. And today of all days they had to do this. The worse part was probably that he'd known it would happen eventually.

"We'll get you supplies and your mother has said she'd take you out to get clothes. School starts next week, we expect you to be prepared." He buzzes with anger - and a special kind of scared whenever his dad gives him a deadline - pushing up and walking with Minnie towards the door out of the living room.

"Eridan," he turns around at his mother's voice, "I promise you'll like it. Just give it this year okay? And if it's that bad we'll keep homeschooling you." He sighs. His weakness. He nods and continues walking in the direction towards his room.

He had to hand it to them that he hadn't expected it. Little ole Eridan hadn't had a clue when they called him to the living room for a family gathering. Well partial family gathering, Cro hadn't been there but it was close enough. His older brother only would've chided him anyway. Once to his bedroom he flops limply to his bed, patting beside him for Minnie to hop up.

It's not like he cares anyway. Or that he has ADD. Nope. Not that he has high anxiety and basically always gets picked on for being tiny. And so much more. So basically this was all just a giant fuck you from the universe which seems to get a kick out of torturing him. The urge to shake his fist at the sky has never been stronger but he resists in favor of rolling over when the German Shepard lies down on his side. Who even cares anyway? It's just a school full of people. Whatever, he'd rather sleep than think about it anyway. And that's exactly what he did.

The rest of the week had basically been hell for everyone involved. His parents had gotten all of the paperwork filled out, his mother took him shopping which was hell with people and clothes and everything. But here he was, walking up the steps shakily, nervous bile in his throat. Maybe he should've feigned illness. Minnie would be nice right about now to calm him. Oops, too late though. They walked inside where his mother led them to the office and stopped at what he assumed was the secretaries?

"Yes, I'm here with my son Eridan. Today's his first day." He could hear the lady make an acknowledging sound and what sounded like punching numbers into a phone.

"Eridan, yes, here's his schedule. Someone should be down in a moment to show him around." The sound of paper reaches his ears as his schedule is passed from the secretary to his mother to him. His mom puts a hand on his shoulder and leads him over to a seat where he promptly sits. God who knows what has touched the seat. Or what's on it. His heart beats faster as he begins to freak out a little.

Eridan tried calming his breathing when his mother's small hand rubbed his back. He could already tell it would be a long day. The door next to him opened with a small gust of air and he turned his head instinctively.

"Feferi?" His whole body tenses at the words. Flashbacks of giggling kids, warm summer air and turtles flash behind his eyes. "Oh my, it's good to see you. You've grown so much." His mother stands, he can tell by the weight shift on his shoulder, and stands too.

"Mrs. Ampora, it's so good to see you again! Eridan! Wow you've gotten taller." A pair of warm arms encircle him and for a moment he thinks he's going to have a panic attack. But the smell is familiar and he finds himself hugging back.

"Fef, it's been forever." Ah yes, his cousin, _favorite _cousin might he add. Maybe the universe was letting up on its shitty streak and giving him a break.

"I was so - excited when they said that you're coming to school and volunteered to show you around ASAP!" They both pull back and grin.

"Well, Eridan, I guess I'll leave you to it and pick you up after school." He turns and hugs his mother, nodding. She kisses his forehead - which he totally doesn't smile at, nope - and leaves the office.

"I guess we should be going now." Feferi places her hand on his forearm so he can link elbows with her, and leads him out into the hall, which by the sounds of it is pretty full. He mentally tells his heart to calm down before it explodes out of his chest as they walk through the throng of people.

"So your first class is a science class. That's not too bad!" Fef bubbles happily. Is it just him or does she seem too happy for school? You know, the death trap, prison. Maybe he should stop listening to Cronus. Before he can contemplate smacking his older brother a warm, deep voice enters his ears.

"Good morning Feferi, what brings you here this period? Oh, who's your friend here?" He resists the urge to reach out, keeping his hands curled up in his pockets.

"Bringing you a new student! This is my cousin Eridan and he's in your class." Feferi lifts his hand up into the air, which a larger - much, much larger - hand grips and shakes up and down.

"Nice to meet you." Eridan makes a small noise and nods his head. He pulls his hand back, motioning to Fef.

"Oh, do you have a piece of paper? Maybe a pencil too." Shuffling commences in front of him as he assumes the teacher looks for said items. As figured, he's handed both things where he begins writing in small letters.

'_How many people are in the class?' _He works slowly so maybe he doesn't write up, or down, or in those damned curves he does where his letters begin to overlap.

"About twenty three. That won't be a problem will it?" Eridan shakes his head and motions towards his bag and writes.

'_Fine for me to use computer?' _A short silence fills the air.

"Yes, as I assume will be easier for you to take notes?' He nods. God is this guy a moron? What the hell else would he use it for? "Alright. Well I'll seat you here in the front. So go ahead and sit down and get settled. I'll get around some things for you. Good to see you Feferi, and I'll see you fifth period." His cousin squeezes his shoulder before giving goodbyes and leaving.

Eridan stands awkwardly for a moment, holding onto the strap of his backpack before shuffling over to what he assumes is a table. It's high up and the chair behind it swivels, damn he's always wanted to sit in one of those, along with another beside it. So he'd be having a desk partner. And he shudders. What if they're a slob? Or disgusting? Or a jerk. How in the world was he supposed to do this school thing being all paranoid like this.

As soon as he's settled in the seat he pulls out his laptop and opens a program for note taking, adjusting his glasses. He liked them, they made him feel less self conscious about his eyes. Maybe people wouldn't think he was different so soon if he wore them. Besides, he was told he looked cute wearing them so why the hell not?

It was when people started to filter in the room -they talk so loudly he's not even sure he can hear his own thoughts - that he started to panic and wish he'd asked Fef to stay with him. The seat next to him stays empty until a loud bell rings. The voice that accompanies the body is considerably louder than the rest of the voices, startling him enough that he has to grip the edge of the table to not fall out of the seat.

"Who the fuck are you?" He's sure the voice is directed at him. Well of course why would someone say that to people they knew in a classroom they'd been in for god knows how long. Still he points to himself, crooking his head to the side some. "Yeah you dipshit, who the fuck else?"

Okay, he had to give it to him, it was a pretty obvious thing. His fingers search out his laptop and he types. _Eridan Ampora. What's your name? _The snort that accompanies the brief moment of silence startles him.

"Why are you typing? Too cool to talk to me or something? Yeah you're probably one of those rich kid douchebags. But whatever. My name's Karkat Vantas." He frowns slightly, fingers moving along the length of the table until he touches warm skin. Very warm. This kid must be on fire or sick. He snatches his hand away at the thought.

"What are you doing?" Eridan steadies his breath and types again. _Is it okay if I touch your face? _"Why in the fuck would you want to do that?" He lets out an exasperated sigh and points to his eyes. Or maybe his forehead. Okay maybe he had to put his finger next to his eye because he had no clue where he was pointing but so what.

_Blind. _

Another moment of silence passes before the voice comes again, quieter this time. "Oh shit, hey I'm sorry for being such a dick nozzle. Yeah, sure of course." He smirks just a little, only a tad bit, before reaching his hand out across the air very, _very _slowly. That warm skin is back on his, causing him to nearly take someone out he's sure when he pulls his hand back surprised.

"Calm down, I'm just helping you out here." Breathe. This guy had no evil intentions so far - he hoped. So when the warmth came back he let it lead his hand to an even warmer face. He turns his body and puts both hands on the guy, feeling over every inch of his face. Rounded nose, long eyelashes, long mouth - a rather full bottom one, and god damn what the kid was likely able to fit in there - and bushy eyebrows. He felt almost kid like. He didn't think that long.

Karkat stiffens as his hands trail down his neck and over broad shoulders, over his chest and back up. "Okay, feeling me up, no problem. I'll just sit here." If only he could roll his eyes, he would've rolled the fuck out of them. He ends his little tour of his desk buddy by running his fingers through soft, almost curls of hair. He wasn't disappointed when he took his hands away from Karkat's face. Nope. Not at all.

"Welcome class, I'd like to introduce you to a new student. Eridan, can you stand up for us please." At that moment he wouldn't admit how hard his heart was pounding in his chest as he slowly rose from the seat and turned slightly to where he assumed the rest of the class was. He's entirely too sure that he can feel multiple gazes on him. "He'll be joining us for the rest of the year. Now I'm going to let you know now that if I hear one person picking on him I will _personally _take care of it. You may sit now." He complies eagerly.

Okay, maybe he would admit he was curious and a little excited now. His tutor told him he was very advanced for his age, especially in science and history, so now he was a little curious to find out. And surprise surprise, when the lesson plan was explained he found he was in a whole different unit than the class. It was nearly instantaneous that he began to zone out. Who could blame him though? He's chock full of ADD and impatience with no medication.

Eridan's attention is finally pulled back to reality when very, very warm desk partner guy Karkat taps his elbow. His head naturally turns that way as he waits for him to say something.

"So uh, how long have you been blind? Like since birth or an accident? Is it weird? Can you smell colors, I mean I have a friend who says she can smell colors but I don't believe her. Have you even seen colors? How do you get dressed without knowing what it looks like-" God _damn _that kid could talk. He can feel warm air pass over his fingers, which are currently pressed over some part of face which he cannot identify, just the squishiness of it.

He scrambles to place his fingers on his keyboard before Karkat spews out anymore nonsense.

_Gradual, wasn't born blind. No it's not weird, not even dark. An yeah, I've seen colors before. I still see in colors in my head. Mostly from what I feel an then people describe them for me. Actually, could you tell me what you look like? Color wise?_

Yeah, that was good. Not too pushy with just enough answers that he wasn't likely to get shot at with another five thousand.

"Oh uh well, I've got like brown skin because I'm Iranian. Uh, brown eyes, really dark like if you've ever had dark chocolate and then mix that with about five pounds of black you've got my eyes. And uh, my hair's brown too. I guess I'm pretty boring to look at really." A mental image of Karkat outlines in his mind. Now he was more curious, fuck.

He reaches out to brush his fingers against Karkat's arm, trailing his fingers over the material of his shirt until his hand is resting against his cheek. As his hand moves he tries imagining the colors - quite a limited variety considering he'd seen few at age 5 - and creating a better picture.

And of course that was when the bell rang. Jesus weren't these classes like an hour and a half? That wasn't even an hour he's sure of it. Focus, that doesn't matter right now. What matteres is that Eridan may or may not have just clawed his - he's damn sure this guy is a looker if his hands can go by anything - desk partner at the sudden bell.

"Holy shit man, cut your nails fuck." There go his cheeks, lost to the flaming inferno under his skin.

_Sorry. _

"Nah, it's fine. Just, jeez you've got a grip. Uh, do you need help getting to your next class or...?" Shit. Of course, his next class. He nods his head and packs his laptop back into his bag. Then that warmth is back only this time it's around the back of his ribs as well as an elbow and mary, joseph, and jesus that was an odd feeling. "Okay says here on your schedule that your next class is...fuck dude, you've got gym? Is that even legal. Seriously, what assholes." Eridan shakes his head, grabbing the hem of Karkat's shirt and allowing himself to be led.

His seemingly hot as hot stuff gets both looks wise and temperature wise desk buddy shouts nonsense at people in the hallway as they make their way through. The only reason he can tell they've reached the gym is the fact that now his voice is echoing which may or may not cause him slight disorientation. Especially when he calls over the teacher and he speaks and he has absolutely no clue where they're standing at all.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you. I'm Horrus Zahhak, your gym teacher. It says here in your papers that you're blind?" There it is again, that feeling of being stared into. "How well can you do sports?" Eridan lets go of Karkat's shirt and nods his head, giving a thumbs up. "Ah...I...see...well at the moment we're going to be going outside. Monday's are physical fitness days." He just hoped that didn't mean sweaty people on him.

"E-ridan! I can't believe you're in here with me!" Fef's voice reaches his ears and he spins around, spins again, spins...again...shit. Where was she? A hand rests on his chest, stopping his endless cycle of dizzy.

"Ah, Feferi. I assume you know our...new student. Will you be able to help him out during class?" He assumes Fef nods from how vigorously his shoulder shakes. "Good...I'll get you the uniform and we can get started..." Footsteps echo away, Fef's hand leaving his shoulder.

"So uh, Eridan right? Anyway, I guess I'll see you later. See ya Feferi." He listens intently, waving in the direction of his hotty hot desk buddy and smiles lightly.

"Okay Eridan! Time to get into tip top shape! First things first, uniform. Then, we run! Just like old times right?" Eridan can nearly taste Feferi's smile.

"Ah here...I hope you fit a medium." A set of cold clothing is thrust into his arms, stunning him just a moment. Then his cousin is pulling him in some direction and it's all just confusing and his hearts thumping but he made a friend with hotty mc hot pants desk buddy Karkat so that should be fine.

"Okay here's the boys locker room, go in a bit maybe take a left and get dressed. Don't go too far!" Fef giggles after him as he feels his way into the warm room. He immediately notices the sudden turn in the wall and figures it's where he can change.

Eridan strips and redresses, feeling for tags and any signs he's wearing the clothing wrong. With a satisfied hum he goes back the way he had to the gym where Feferi greets him warmly.

"Wow that was pretty quick! And you look just like the rest of us, secretly you should be glad you can't see this train wreck." She whispers the last part and giggles, tugging him as she skips away. The chilly breeze from outside hits him strongly and he sucks in a large breath, cherishing the crisp autumn smells.

"Alright everyone, line up, we'll be doing some running today. Just run until the whistle is blown." Horuss blows a whistle, the air shifting as people run past he assumes. Feferi places a hand on his elbow and they start off at a fast pace. God the wind felt good. And the exercise. He didn't get to do this often at home with no one who'd run with him.

"Woo, go Eridan! You're as fast as ever!" A smile tugs at his lips as he picks up the pace, keeping close to the hand on his elbow. All's well, and maybe school wouldn't be such a train wreck. Cause hell, he had a hotty pants desk partner in science, a gym class with Feferi and only the people who have read his schedule know the rest. That didn't help to clear up why Cronus always said it was so bad but hey, who's he to judge his moron of a brother?


End file.
